So this is it, the final week for this inquiry and like some movie we left the big moment for the end. At first, doing this blog felt awkward and unnatural however, as the weeks went on, how I feel towards the process has drastically changed. By reflecting and sharing my opinions, what I’ve learned, and my experiences this inquiry blog has allowed me to hold on to valuable memories and information. I feel that by not only reflecting but writing out my experiences it allowed me to retain more information and look into other resources leading up to the lead test. This past Monday @DirtBagDrive (Anju) and I took the lead test and I am so happy to say WE PASSED! WE DID IT!!! I can’t believe it! We are now able to lead climb at CragX and have the skills to be able to do it safely outside when the season starts!
Before taking the test, we spent about an hour “warming up” and waiting for Sarah to be free to test us but she ended up having to teach a course so we ended up taking the test with the wonderful Ella. I definitely had some jitters but after talking to Ella a bit, I felt a bit better. I was the first to climb. It went really well, unfortunately I did end up back clipping one clip which is a huge no no but it didn’t look right right away so I reclipped it (so it wasn’t a problem for testing). Other than that the rest of the climb felt smooth. I was really just concentrating on my foot placements and communicating with Anju. When it came time for the big fall, it was easy. The catch was soft and I felt good. I did have to take a bit of a rest before continuing but after that I climbed up the rest of the way to the top and felt really good.
Now for the hard part of the test, belaying. Ella left us to switch over the rope and swap gear. Although I was nervous, after the first bit of the climb it felt smooth and almost like second nature. When it came time for Anju to fall I came in a bit early for the catch but Ella said it was still a good, soft catch. Once Anju came down Ella gave us the best news, we passed! We were riding on a wave of stoke! She gave us a couple notes but nothing too serious, just things that come with time, practice, and experience.
Over the last few months, there was definitely some struggling at times but I learned from it, grew and ended up achieving this goal. And what an amazing feeling it is! Reflecting on my first blog post for this inquiry, I really questioned why climbing? What made it so special to me? And why did I want to do this for my free inquiry? My answers in that post are all still accurate but I realized there was one big piece that I did not mention. The relationships and close bonds that develop with others who not only share this passion but climb with you. Climbing with Anju and others has been a blast! My relationship with my partner, the people we have gotten to know at the gym, and the friendships I’ve made have all been because of climbing. I have met and connected with so many people through this love and am excited to meet others. It is something that fills my heart with such joy.
My goal for this process was to learn how to lead climb and to feel confident with setting up a rope at an anchor station. Throughout this journey I am not ecstatic to say that I have done both and will continue to do both. These goals were never anything to just check off, they are something to practice consistently. Not only to improve upon but to maintain. We cannot forget or become too relaxed with anything we have learned or it could be a seriously bad time. I have also added feeling comfortable climbing on an auto belay system. I actually really enjoy it and can’t believe it has taken me this long! As happy as I am about achieving this goal, it feels like a stepping stone onto the next great thing.
Now I have my eyes set on my next goal, ice climbing. Lucky for me, CragX has a “dry tooling” route to practice on. After we celebrated our success and hung around for a bit, I was still too stoked to stop and go home so I decided to jump the dry tooling route and give it a shot. And man! I absolutely loved it! It’s a completely different style of climbing, like learning a whole new dance. The tools are heavy and the holds aren’t easy but it’s great training for ice climbing in the outdoors!Â
Photo by CragX
I’d like to thank my partner, Grant, for being my biggest motivator, supporter, and private tutor to achieving this goal, @DirtBagDrive (Anju) for being an awesome climbing partner and going through this journey with me, Sarah for being our amazing instructor, Ella for testing us, our incredible instructor of EDCI 336, Joanna, for this class, this assignment, and for bringing Anju and I together, and everyone else for the love, friendships, and laughs along the way.
Life is all about risk and reward. Better to have struggled, to have tried, than to not have seized an opportunity at all.
Tommy Caldwell
